Ski



July 29 1952 J. AUTHIER 2,605,111

Filed July 1*., 1950 FIG. l

Patented July 29, 1952 2,605,111 i. sin ,I John Authier, Biere, switzerland Application July 1, 1950, serial No. 171,685 In Switzerland April fl, 1950 The present invention' relates to improved ski construction. It is an object of the invention .to provide skis which have greater resilience without, however, decreasingl their strength. A feature'of the construction in accordance with the invention is that it not only materially increases the resilience of the ski as a whole but providesv a betten distribution or balance of resiliency throughout vthe length of the ski.

In accordance with the invention, the ski is built Aup to the desired thicknessfrom two or morey layers or pieces of material, at least .one of whichis provided in the median portion ofits length with a series of transverse grooves or recesses which face the adjacent layer of material and are closed at their ends so as to form completely closed cavities when the `layers are secured together, for example by gluing. These cavities give the median portion of the ski greater resilience. Preferably, the central cavities are larger andthe cavities towards the ends of the series are progressively smaller, so that the resilience isr graduated. It isalso preferred to provide spaced" elongated channelsv extending lengthwise ofthe ski, forwardly and rearwardly of the aforementioned series of transverse cavities, and to embed resilient metallic strips in these channels.` The vclosedgcavities in the median portion of theA ski cooperate with these Aresilientgmetallic strips extending forwardly and rearwardly from the cavities to provide correctly proportioned resiliency of the ski throughout its length.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example, a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an entire ski in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ski. ,y

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines '3 3 of Fig. 4 of the median section of the ski. y

Fig. 4 is a cross-section along the line 4 4 in Fig. 3.

6 Claims. (Cl. 28B-11.13)

prising an upper layer l, 'an intermediate layer 2 and a lower layer 3. Each layer is in turn formed of a plurality of slats which are placed sideby Fig. 5 is a cross-section along the line 5-#5 in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-section along the line 6 6 in Fig. 2.

The ski shown in the drawings is built up `to the desired thickness from a plurality of layers or pieces of wood cemented together. As shown in the drawings, there are three layers, comside and cemented together. The lower layer3 has its bottom surface covered with a protecting covering 4 of plastic material.y v f In the median portion of the length ofthe ski,- the upper layer I is provided with a thicker por-- tion 5 which is adapted-to receive -the vbindingr for attaching the ski to the skiers foot. In the lower face of this median portion, .there are pro-A vided a series of grooves 6. These grooves are formed only inthe central slat or slats which cavities in the median portion of the ski. Pref-V erably, the *series of recesses extends somewhat beyond the ends of the thickest portion yIn the embodiment shown in the drawings, there isLA one groove 6 located in front of the thickened portion v5 whereas behind the thickened portion there arethree grooves or recesses.v It willbe understood that the numberof grooves may be:

varied. Moreover, the depth` ofthe grooves-is preferably graduated, vthe shallowest being sit, uated at the end ofthe series and the ldeepest in. Y

the central portion. In cross-section, the grooves have a shape corresponding to a segment of a cylinder, the axis of which is disposed transversely with relation to the longitudinal axis of the ski (Fig. 4). As shown in Fig. 4, the space between successive grooves is approximately equal to the width of the grooves. This spacing may be varied. For example, the grooves may be closer together in the central portion of the series.

Forwardly and rearwardly of the series of recesses 6, the ski is reinforced by long, narrow, resilient steel strips 1 which are Ydisposed in longitudinal channels of corresponding shape formed in' the upper face of the intermediate layer 2. These metallic strips 1 preferably overlap two adjacent slats of the layers I and 2 so that the strips 1 reinforce the joint between the juxtaposed slats. As seen in Fig. 2, the metallic strips 1 extend from points near the thickened portion 5 almost to the forward and rearward endsof the ski. rIhe ski is preferably also provided with steel edge strips 8 which extend substantially the full length of the ski.

The combination of the closed cavities 6 and NT rOFFIC5E] the resilient metallic strips 'l embedded between the layers of the ski has been found to give the ski great resilience without impairing its strength.

While the invention has been disclosed with reference to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood that the construction may be modified within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the number of slats making upl the respective superposed;

vlayers or piecesv from which the ski is formed may be varied as desired. Moreover, instead of grooving all of the slats except the edge slats, as shown in Fig. 5, one or more intermediate slats may be left ungrooved so that the transverse grooves are not continuous. For example, with ve slats', as shown in Fig. 5, the second and fourth slats only may be grooved, leaving the rst, thirdandth slats ungrooved. Still other modications within the scope of the present invention will bevreadily' apparent to those skilled in the art.

What I'i claim and .wish to. secure by. Letters Patent-ns:

i. A! sin Comprising at least,twofei'ongated piecesrxtend'ing' lengthwise of tlielski.E andA superposedfon one another-"in thedirection of" the thickness of the ski; at least/one ofi said piecesy havinginth'e rnedazrV portion-ofi it'slen'gtli a' pluf rality'off spaced@recesses` which have the shape off segments of cylinders and fextendtransversely ofthe ski but terminate at points spaced' i'nwa'rdlyfror'n the side edges of' thefski, said pieces beingsecu-red together withl the` recesses in one pieceffaci'ng theY other piece and coopera-ting therewith Itolform'` completely enclosed: cavities Whichgive'resilence'lto'the'ski.

2. A'V ski comprising at least two elongated piecesl extending lengthwise of' theV ski and superposed'on one another in the direction of;r the? 3. A ski comprising at least two elongated pieces extending lengthwise of the ski and superposed on one another in the direction of the thickness of the ski, said pieces being adhesively secured together and at least one of them having its abutting face shaped to form a series of completely enclosed cavities between said pieces in themedian portion of their length,hsaid cavities extending transversely ofthexski, and spaced elongated' channels extending lengthwise of the w ski forwardly and rearwardly of said series of transverse cavities and resilient metallic strips disposed in said channels.

4. A ski comprising at least two elongated pieces extending lengthwise of the ski and superposed on one another in the direction of the thickness: of the ski, at least one of said pieces having a thickened section in the median portion of it's-Av length, the inner face of said thickened portion being provided with a series of spaced recesses.v which extend* transversely of theski' but terminate"v at points: spaced: 'inwardly from.` the sid'e.` edges-'of the; ski; saidi pieces being' secured:

together with-therecessesinzsaid piecefacing the# adj acentpiecei andi cooperating therewith:- to formt completely' enclosed: cav-itiesiwhich give'y resilience tozth'esk. Y l liar:

5'. A4 ski according: to claim..4",. nr ,whi'c the? series of cavitiesje extendsv beyond` v'thee endsnffsaidf.

thickened'portion.; "ai t I 6. A` ski according to claim 4,-. in which thev cavities areofV graduatedidepth, being.'V ofl lessery depth' at'. the ends offtthe series'V and of greaterV depth intermediate the endsi of' the series;

rEheV following: references are of` record innithc. ile. otthis patent: v

790.31m sept. 2.- 1935i 

